“Luminous yet corporeal” - Los Angeles Times
Could a string quartet build connections by sharing the energy of exploration?
Del Sol began as a thought on the night shift at Fermilab. Charlton Lee had set aside his viola for physics - mostly. Physics suited his constant curiosity. But he missed the way music brings people together. Next experiment: could a string quartet build connections by sharing the energy of exploration?
Thirty-one years later, we are still sharing music that brings out the endorphins. Music that asks “why not?”
Although Del Sol began in New Mexico, the quartet quickly found a home in San Francisco. Our music reflects the city, which has long been a magnet for freethinking artists who welcome a different vantage-point. It’s there in the landscape. Within view of our rehearsal space, the Pacific and North American tectonic plates constantly shift and reposition. We can stand with one foot on each side.
Our music taps into this. Del Sol has commissioned and premiered pieces by our heroes like Ben Johnston, Gabriela Lena Frank, Chinary Ung, and Terry Riley. We remain committed to building community in the Bay Area, including hundreds of outdoor performances in parks and street corners. Our performances take us all over the country, from the Boonville Grange Hall to Brooklyn Academy of Music, Library of Congress, or the Singapore International Arts Festival.
Sounds Current
The new podcast from Del Sol Quartet, launched in June 2024
Imagine yourself as an immigrant possessed of little more than hope. You survive an arduous crossing, determined to secure a safe and prosperous future only to be met with detention and dehumanization. This is San Francisco in the early 1900s. You are Chinese and unwelcome.
Sounds Current introduces audiences to the story of Angel Island. Here, the whispers of poems carved into the immigration station walls by detainees ripple across time, connecting that shameful, hidden past to our current immigration debate. We meet the creatives behind The Angel Island Project, the haunting, beautiful collaboration between the Del Sol Quartet and composer Huang Ruo, which weaves together poetry and music in a poignant, powerful expression of history, hope, and humanity.
Angel Island invites listeners to bear witness to the Asian American experience, to awaken our compassion, and explore what it means to create art that provokes awareness and builds community. Listen to the Sounds Current trailer here.
Sounds Current was one of four podcasts nominated for the 2024 Tribeca Festival’s Independent Audio Nonfiction Award.
